''Fill the Void'' ( - lemale et ha'ḥalal) is a 2012 Israeli

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

written and directed by

Rama Burshtein Rama Burshtein-Shai () is an American-born Israelis, Israeli filmmaker best known for her 2012 debut feature, ''Fill the Void''. Early life Burshtein was born in New York in 1967, and moved to Tel Aviv when she was one year old. She attended th ...

. It focuses on life among the

Haredi Haredi Judaism (, ) is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that is characterized by its strict interpretation of religious sources and its accepted (Jewish law) and traditions, in opposition to more accommodating values and practices. Its members are ...

Jewish community in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

, Israel.

Hadas Yaron Hadas Yaron (; born April 12, 1990) is an Israeli actress. She began acting as a child and made her film debut as a supporting actress in the 2006 film, ''Out of Sight''. Yaron played lead character Shira Mendelman in the 2012 Israeli drama film, ...

stars as Shira Mendelman, an 18-year-old girl who is pressured to marry her older sister's husband, following the death of her sister in childbirth. The film required a lengthy production period, taking over a year for the casting to be completed, and another year and three months for editing. Burshtein, who was doubtful as to how much of the process would be completed, took a step-by-step approach, focusing first on the writing, then on accumulating enough funding for the project, followed by the filming and editing. Burshtein became the first Haredi Jewish woman to direct a film intended for wide distribution. The film premiered at the 69th

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...

on 1 September 2012, and was later released in the United States on 24 May 2013. ''Fill the Void'' was well received by critics for its depiction of Haredi Jews and their lifestyle. It won seven

Israeli Academy Awards The Ophir Awards (), full name: the Israel Film Academy Award, sometimes also known as the Israeli Oscars or the Israeli Academy Awards, are film awards for excellence in the Israeli film industry awarded by the Israeli Academy of Film and Televi ...

, and lead actress Hadas Yaron won Best Actress for her portrayal of Shira at the Venice Film Festival.

Plot

Shira Mendelman, an 18-year-old

Hasidic Hasidism () or Hasidic Judaism is a religious movement within Judaism that arose in the 18th century as a spiritual revival movement in contemporary Western Ukraine before spreading rapidly throughout Eastern Europe. Today, most of those aff ...

girl living in Tel Aviv, is looking forward to an arranged marriage with a young man whom she likes. However, on

Purim Purim (; , ) is a Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday that commemorates the saving of the Jews, Jewish people from Genocide, annihilation at the hands of an official of the Achaemenid Empire named Haman, as it is recounted in the Book of Esther (u ...

, her family suffers a tragedy when Shira's older sister Esther dies in childbirth. Shira's father subsequently delays the engagement so as not to have to deal with an empty house so soon after Esther's death. Esther's husband, Yochay, begins to regularly bring their son, Mordechai, to the Mendelman's house, where Shira cares for him. One day, Yochay's mother approaches Shira's mother, Rivka, about the possibility of Yochay remarrying, believing it to be best for Mordechai. She plans to suggest an offer from a widow in Belgium. Rivka is distraught by the idea of Mordechai being taken out of the country, and suggests that Yochay marry Shira instead. He and Shira both initially oppose the prospect, though he eventually warms to it, and she agrees to take it into consideration on learning that her previous engagement has been called off due to her father's delays. However, she had hoped for a younger husband; her dream was of someone who would discover married life for the first time together with her. Shortly afterwards, Frieda, a friend of Esther who has never received any marriage proposals, tells Shira that Esther would have preferred that Yochay marry her in the event of her death. As a result, Shira tells Yochay that Frieda is more suitable, which he takes as an affront. Shira and Yochay remain distant from one another afterwards, and he announces that he plans to move with Mordechai to marry the widow in Belgium. Shira, pressured by her family, agrees to go forward with the engagement to Yochay, believing it to be the best scenario for everyone. However, the rabbi realizes that Shira is half-hearted, and he refuses to condone the marriage. Time passes, and Shira eventually concludes that she was meant to be with Yochay and his baby. She approaches the rabbi and asks again that she and Yochay be married, and he agrees this time. The film closes with their wedding.

Cast

as Shira Mendelman * Chaim Sharir as Aharon Mendelman * Ido Samuel as Yossi Mendelman * Irit Sheleg as Rivka Mendelman *

Production

Writing and themes

''Fill the Void'' was written and directed by Rama Burshtein, who, in the course of its production, became the first Haredi Jewish woman to direct a film intended to be viewed outside of the Haredi community. In doing so, she hoped to create a greater understanding of the Haredi community, in part by dispelling the common misconceptions that women are often forced into arranged marriages; despite the differences in structure, the woman is always given the final say in whom she marries. Burshtein also deliberately avoided depicting a divide between the religious and secular

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

s, a theme that commonly appears in films about the Haredim. She explained: In her director's notes, Burshtein wrote, "I love

Jane Austen Jane Austen ( ; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for #List of works, her six novels, which implicitly interpret, critique, and comment on the English landed gentry at the end of the 18th century ...

. She's romantic, intelligent, and full of humor. ... The parallel is also quite obvious in that 'Fill the Void' takes place in a world where the rules are rigid and clear. The characters are not looking for some way to burst out of that world. Instead, they are trying to find a way to live within it." Critics noted the similarities between Austen's characters and those in ''Fill the Void'', and Stephanie Merry from ''The Washington Post'' likened the character of Frieda to Charlotte Lucas from ''

Pride and Prejudice ''Pride and Prejudice'' is the second published novel (but third to be written) by English author Jane Austen, written when she was age 20-21, and later published in 1813. A novel of manners, it follows the character development of Elizabe ...

''. Frieda, like Charlotte, has never had any marriage prospects, and is the subject of others' pity as a result. Merry suggested that, regardless of cultural differences, the story is universal, due to "its themes of loss and family loyalty, not to mention the realization that life may not align with our idealized expectations". ''Boston Globe'' correspondent Peter Keough agreed that the "themes of love and loss, self-sacrifice and self-preservation" are applicable to audiences both in and outside the Haredi community. John Podhoretz, an editor of ''

The Weekly Standard ''The Weekly Standard'' was an American neoconservative political magazine of news, analysis, and commentary that was published 48 times per year. Originally edited by founders Bill Kristol and Fred Barnes, the ''Standard'' was described as a ...

'', was surprised that the "state of grace" featured prominently in ''Fill the Void'', perceiving it to be an uncommon concept in Jewish movies.

Casting

Casting the film took a full year to complete, largely because, according to Burshtein, she "didn't know what hewanted". She initially considered using "regular people" with no background in acting, before realizing that "non-actors couldn't handle the complexities of their characters". Israeli actress

, then aged 20, was cast for the role of Shira, the protagonist of the film. She commented that her character "is much more naïve at 18 than I was when I was 18, and there was something so special about that, and it was like going back to the basics". Yaron was unfamiliar with Haredi practice prior to participating in ''Fill the Void''. In order to become better acquainted with Shira's lifestyle, she started memorizing all of the Hebrew blessings, saying: "There's something so beautiful about it because you're being so grateful all the time for everything you do and hoping that everything works out okay, and I started doing those blessings every day, and it sounds silly, but it helps you feel that you are closer to the character."

Yiftach Klein Yiftach Klein (; born 28 September 1972) is an Israeli actor. He has been nominated for two Ophir Awards for Best Supporting Actor in 2007 for ''Noodle'' and for Best Actor in 2011 for his role in ''Policeman''. Additional cast members include Hila Feldman as Frieda, Irit Sheleg as Rivka Mendelman, Chaim Sharir as Aharon Mendelman, Razia Israeli as Aunt Hanna, Renana Raz as Esther Goldberg, Ido Samuel as Yossi Mendelman, Yael Tal as Shiffi, Michael David Weigl as Shtreicher, Neta Moran as Bilha, and Melech Thal as Rabbi. As most of the main cast was not from the Haredi community, Burshtein instructed them to attend all of the major events that take place within the film, including a

wedding A wedding is a ceremony in which two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnicity, ethnicities, Race (human categorization), races, religions, Religious denomination, denominations, Cou ...

and a

circumcision Circumcision is a procedure that removes the foreskin from the human penis. In the most common form of the operation, the foreskin is extended with forceps, then a circumcision device may be placed, after which the foreskin is excised. T ...

. Yaron commented: "

t the wedding T, or t, is the twentieth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is de ...

it was so intense, and

he bride He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter call ...

was crying, and she was really in it, and I felt like she was my sister because I'm going to be like her in a while. So, it was really helpful to experience all these things, and to see how it is and to feel a part of it actually."

Costumes

Chani Gurewitz oversaw costume design for the film, and much of the low budget was spent on the clothing worn by the actors, which was designed to be soft and colorful. Hasidic style of dress was used, including headgear and heavy attire worn by the males and modest dresses and head coverings worn by the females.

Filming

Burshtein found creating a believable relationship between Yiftach Klein and Hadas Yaron to be one of the more challenging aspects of the production. She hoped to keep the relationship between Yochay and Shira enigmatic, with a strong undercurrent of tension, throughout the film. One method of doing so was ensuring that the actors never touched while filming. She explained, "That's how we see the enigma—the power of wanting and then restraining. The restraining ''is'' the power. The passion cannot exist if you have it all the time—the passion is only for something that you don't have. You have to work to keep the passion. Judaism is all about that." Burshtein considered including a scene in which Shira and Yochay kissed about halfway through the movie but decided against it, believing that the energy would be lost. Yaron had never acted in a role with a romance before and at certain points found it difficult to portray the emotions her character felt when interacting with Yochay. Cinematographer Asaf Sudry assisted in conveying to the audience that the marriage between the lead characters would eventually take place by frequently using sunlight for their scenes. In general, Sudry designed the visual effects in ''Fill the Void'' to create a claustrophobic view point. Blurred backgrounds were often utilized to focus on the faces of the characters, and most of the long takes were shot from an interior perspective. Sudry used

Arri Alexa The Arri Alexa is a digital motion picture camera system developed by Arri. The Arri Alexa was introduced in April 2010 and was Arri's first major transition into digital cinematography, after previous efforts including the Arriflex D-20 and ...

cameras and short-range lenses with limited camera movements to maintain the effect. Burshtein explained that this was done to illustrate that "the heart is very colorful and very small" and that "we as human beings only see fragments of the big picture; God sees the whole thing!" While a "

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

feel" was retained throughout most of the film's duration, the style was switched for the wedding scene to create a euphoric atmosphere similar to those used in productions by

Terrence Malick Terrence Frederick Malick (; born November 30, 1943) is an American filmmaker. Malick began his career as part of the New Hollywood generation of filmmakers and received awards at the Cannes Film Festival, Berlin International Film Festival, and ...

and

David Lynch David Keith Lynch (January 20, 1946 – January 16, 2025) was an American filmmaker, visual artist, musician, and actor. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Lynch was often called a "visionary" and received acclaim f ...

. The film relied on subtext, requiring the actors to "read between the lines" for a number of their scenes. Most of the sentiments are understated, and Burshtein avoided having any of the characters break down or openly become angry when pressured. Yaron described a scene between Yochay and Rivka as her favorite, saying, "I think it's because there is so much pain there; it touches you the most when people feel something and try to hide it and you see it." Following the completion of filming, Burshtein continued to edit the footage for another year and three months until it was declared complete.

Music

Yitzhak Azulay composed the music played in ''Fill the Void''. He chose primarily melodic and traditional pieces, using them frequently throughout the film. Other soundtrack is composed largely of contemporary Orthodox pop music, and the prayers are "regularly chanted rather than spoken". The song "Im Eshkachech Yerushalayim" (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

: אם אשכחך ירושלים, 'If I Forget Thee Jerusalem') features prominently in the film, playing at all three of the major events: the funeral, the

Bris Milah The ''brit milah'' (, , ; " covenant of circumcision") or ''bris'' (, ) is the ceremony of circumcision in Judaism and Samaritanism, during which the foreskin is surgically removed. According to the Book of Genesis, God commanded the biblical ...

, and the wedding. Azulay used an

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

version of the song, which is derived from an excerpt of Psalm 137 and expresses the yearnings of the Jewish people in exile following the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem in 586 BCE: "If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither; Let my tongue stick to my palate if I cease to think of you, if I do not keep Jerusalem in memory even at my happiest hour." Shira is frequently shown playing the accordion, which Hadas Yaron did not know how to play. She described it as a "very difficult instrument" and stated, "There was so much noise in ne scene It was like rrrrrrnnnnngh

s I tried to play S, or s, is the nineteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and other latin alphabets worldwide. Its name in English is ''ess'' (pronounced ), plural ''esses''. ...

I was faking the melody and it was ugly, very weird stuff. I had to really switch this button n my headlike don't listen to it and feel what you’'re feeling. It took a while because at the beginning, I was very aware of playing this horrible melody, if you could call it a melody, and I knew I had to feel something. It took a few takes because I thought, 'oh, how could

he crew He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter call ...

listen to that? The cinematographer!' It took a while to ignore that and just be in the moment."

Reception

Box office

First released in Israel in September 2012, ''Fill the Void'' grossed $59,164 on its opening weekend. It appeared in three theaters with an average of $19,721 per theater, ranking at #38 in the country. During the film's eight-week release, it appeared in 64 theaters and reached a figure of $1,468,587 for total domestic gross. It was later released in the United States in May 2013, grossing $2,418,587 worldwide.

Critical reviews

''Fill the Void'' received generally positive reviews, garnering an 89% "fresh" rating based from 74 reviews on review aggregator website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

; the consensus states: "Graceful, complex, and beautifully layered, ''Fill the Void'' offers a sympathetic portrait of an insulated culture by exploring universal themes." Several critics compared the female characters to

's novels. The Weekly Standard editor John Podhoretz opined, "I don't know when I've ever seen a film as eerily perfect in tone and taste as ''Fill the Void''...There isn't a moment when Burshtein goes wrong, goes melodramatic, goes didactic, goes false. Working as a woman of faith in a medium looked on with understandable suspicion and skepticism by those who believe as she does, Rama Burshtein has made a work of art of overwhelming beauty and impact." ''

The New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...

'' critic Farran Smith Nehme disagreed, writing, "While the social milieu is nicely realized, other parts of the drama are not. Too often Burshtein cuts off a scene prematurely, darting away just as the crucial moment of emotion or confrontation appears." ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

'' correspondent Peter Keough gave the film a highly favorable review: Deborah Young from ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' also published a good review, adding that it was "more realistic than beautiful, though when the story calls for it she has no trouble injecting poetry into a scene."Deborah Young
Fill the Void (Lemale Et Ha'Chalal): Venice Review
''

'', 9 January 2012 A review in ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yor ...

'' was equally positive, adding that the film used "long static takes, restricting her shots largely to interiors and strategically alternating between depth staging and blurry backgrounds, Rama Burshtein brings a sense of inevitability and constriction to the insular world of Israeli Hassidic Judaism."Andrew Schenker
Fill the Void
''

'', 2 October 2012 More broadly, ''

Screen International ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company which also owned '' Broadcast''. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involv ...

'' suggested that director "Burshtein paints a perfect bubble that can last only as long as it has no contact with the world outside (no secular presence is allowed in here)." Additionally, critics praised the respect shown to the film's portrayal of Orthodox Jews. Jane Esiner from ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' suggested that, "While the film may deliver a message at odds with contemporary feminism in the eyes of some critics, the movie portrays female characters with a strength that is both subtle and believable."Jane Esiner
An Unconventional Look at Orthodoxy
''

'', 3 May 2013 A. O. Scott, also from ''The New York Times'', added, "Their routines are dominated by prayer, ritual observance and obedience to Jewish law, but their world does not seem narrow and austere. On the contrary, it is at times almost unbearably full of feeling and significance." Scott further commended the acting by Hadas Yaron, saying, "Shira is modest and sensible, forthright with her opinions and discreet about expressing emotion, but the way Ms. Yaron composes her features—and the way she is lighted by Ms. Burshtein and the cinematographer, Asaf Sudry—seems to offer direct access to her soul." Likewise, ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' film critic Kenneth Turan found Yaron's performance "exceptional". By contrast, Peter Cavanese from ''

Pleasanton Weekly The ''Pleasanton Weekly'' is a weekly newspaper published in Pleasanton, California, established in 2000. Owned by Embarcadero Media, the newspaper serves Pleasanton, California. Gina Channell was named the division president and Pleasanton Week ...

'' disliked the idea of Shira marrying under the circumstances in the film and wrote that she "comes across as temperamentally battered by her mother and her potential husband, who is himself slow to see the wisdom of marrying Shira".

Awards

The film won seven

Ophir Award The Ophir Awards (), full name: the Israel Film Academy Award, sometimes also known as the Israeli Oscars or the Israeli Academy Awards, are film awards for excellence in the Israeli film industry awarded by the Israeli Academy of Film and Tele ...

s,Prof. Livia Bitton-Jackson
Rama Burshstein: A Window Into Her World
''

The Jewish Press ''The Jewish Press'' is an American weekly newspaper based in Brooklyn, New York City. It serves the Modern Orthodox Jewish community. History The ''Jewish Press'' was co-founded in 1960 by Albert Klass and his brother Sholom Klass. The Klas ...

'', 6 December 2012 the Israeli equivalent of the American

Oscars The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence i ...

, including one for best director and one for best film. It was selected to compete for the

Golden Lion The Golden Lion () is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is regarded as one of the film industry's most prestigious and distinguished prizes. In 1970, a ...

award at the

69th Venice International Film Festival The 69th annual Venice International Film Festival, was held from 29 August to 8 September 2012, at Venice Lido in Italy. American filmmaker Michael Mann was the jury president for the main competition. Polish actress Kasia Smutniak was the H ...

, and Hadas Yaron won the

Volpi Cup The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...

for Best Actress. In September 2012, the film was selected as the Israeli entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the

85th Academy Awards The 85th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2012 and took place on February 24, 2013, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, beginning at 5:30 p ...

, but it did not make the final shortlist.

References

External links

* * * * * {{Israeli submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film 2012 films 2012 drama films Israeli drama films 2010s Hebrew-language films Films set in Tel Aviv Israeli independent films Films about Orthodox and Hasidic Jews 2012 directorial debut films 2012 independent films Sony Pictures Classics films